The good news for Jackson continues. Federal Judge Henry Wingate has now put sewer under the control of federal water czar Ted Henifin.
That means probable access to tons of federal money to repair Jackson’s dilapidated sewer lines.
A little background: There are three types of water lines and pipes under the ground: fresh drinking water, which is under pressure; sewage lines, which transport toilet, sink and bath water; and storm drains, which transport rainwater runoff.
Each of these three lines are independent but they are often colocated, meaning the lines are adjacent to one another.
After Jackson’s 2022 seven-week boil water notice, Wingate installed Henifin as Jackson’s czar over the water treatment plants and fresh water lines.
Wingate has this power because Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1972 requiring cities to meet certain clean water standards.
Similarly, the federal Clean Water Act of 1977, which sets standards for sewage treatment and discharge, gives Wingate the ability to put Henifin in charge of Jackson’s sewer system.
Jackson has been under a consent decree in Wingate’s court for years for discharging improperly treated water into the Pearl River. The City of Jackson has failed to address the problem, so Wingate has given the assignment to Henifin. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
This is a huge responsibility for Henifin, who is a leading expert in his field and makes a half million a year as Jackson’s water, and now sewer, czar. Hopefully, Henifin can now use nearly a billion in federal funds to address both the clean water and the raw sewage problem in Jackson.
This situation is extremely rare. I did a little searching on the web and couldn’t find a single situation nationwide where a federal water czar took over a big city’s water system.
It’s a weird situation where total failure by the city has given us the benefit of top-notch federal help along with access to the nearly unlimited funds of the U. S. government (which can apparently borrow money forever; $31 trillion and counting!!!)
Estimates to repair the sewer system ranged in the billions, far beyond Jackson’s ability to pay, especially with its depleted tax base. Some of the pipes are over 100 years old and probably pulverized by time. Unlike the United States government, Jackson’s debt ceiling is limited by state law and is pretty much maxed out. So wail and scream as they did, EPA officials could not squeeze blood out of a turnip and polluted sewage kept pouring into the Pearl River.
This is a most strange governance mechanism — a federal judge appointed for life then appoints an expert who makes five times the salary of the city’s mayor. Can judge Wingate force the federal government to spend the money? Or the city or state? This remains unclear. Like most federal mandates enforced by federal judges, they kind of figure it out as they go along.
So why didn’t city or state officials raise water and sewer rates enough to rebuild the infrastructure? Raising taxes is not very popular in a democracy, especially when, like water rates, they apply to all voters. The magnitude of the increase would have caused a voter rebellion, so no elected official would touch it. It was easier to just keep polluting.
Compare this to federal income taxes, which only apply to about half the population. It’s politically feasible to raise income tax rates because our progressive tax code exempts roughly half the voters.
The big pollution problem occurs when it rains. Imagine storm water drainage pipes and ditches running alongside eroded sewer pipes. The storm water runoff pours into the sewage lines causing a ten-fold increase in water running into Jackson’s Savannah sewage treatment plant in south Jackson. The plant gets overloaded and the only solution is to dump partially treated stormwater mixed with raw sewage into the nearby Pearl River.
Ironically, if there are clean water lines leaking out, which they do to the tune of six million gallons a day, it would actually help dilute the raw sewage and improve the situation. Every dark cloud has a silver lining!
This is not as it should be. If government was operating properly, water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure would be properly maintained. But we don’t live in a perfect world.
The Democratic-run city has a big share of the blame, especially with all the shady contracts and backroom deals. The Republican-run state has some blame, sitting on record surpluses, while refusing to aid Jackson. And the federal government is to blame for waiting until a bonafide crisis before getting involved. In the end, it took an appointed federal judge to move the needle.
This is not the first time. Hinds County Detention Center, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and Mississippi Childhood Protective Services are all under court decrees.
If state officials aren’t careful, the Mississippi Department of Corrections could be under federal decree like neighboring Alabama, where a federal judge is forcing that state to spend two billion dollars to upgrade its prison system.
Mississippi barely dodged that bullet, thanks to a sympathetic federal judge, William Barbour from Yazoo City. The new MDOC commissioner Burl Cain is helping matters by making significant reforms.
The state legislature should support Cain financially. As House Speaker Philip Gunn said recently at the Stennis Press Institute, “Mississippi doesn’t have two billion dollars.”
